Published: Monday, February 11, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 10:29 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | The U.S. Education Department’s directive to enhance sports participation for people with disabilities might not have a direct effect on local private schools, which receive no federal funding, but school officials said they are generally open to idea of presenting opportunities.

“Right now, it’s so new,” said Robert Johnson, Tuscaloosa Academy’s director of athletics and head football coach. “Since we’re a private school, we don’t know if there will be some kind of implication for us that’s completely different from what we have in place now. If it becomes an issue, we’ll have to talk with our board of directors. I’m thinking that Tuscaloosa Academy wouldn’t really be under these guidelines, but the things that affect the public schools are certainly issues that we discuss as we move forward in the way that best serves our students. We try to stay on top of the world of education, and the board of directors sets those policies.”

Johnson said the school already has a “no-cut” policy to encourage participation in athletics. Coaches don’t dismiss potential players who can make the grades, meet the physical requirements, attend practices and follow the team rules.

“We want our students to come be on a team,” Johnson said. “As far as actual playing time, we’re going to put our best players out there, but we encourage all of our students to participate and play anything they want to play.”

Johnson said the no-cut policy is in effect “as long as people are willing to do what the coaches ask them to do.”

Tuscaloosa Academy sports are sanctioned by the Alabama Independent School Association.

“The league still has rules,” Johnson said. “You still have to have a physical and turn in all your paperwork like anybody else to be on one of our teams. The league we play in, we have to go by their guidelines, obviously, because of safety issues.”

American Christian Academy, a member of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, has 22 different sports for boys and girls with 38 teams.

Rob Cain, ACA’s director of athletics, estimated that 90 to 95 percent of the students in grades seven through 12 participate in some kind of sport or activity, including cheerleading and dance team.

“I can certainly see the merit of the law,” Cain said. “As far as the ACA vantage point, nothing would change from what we’ve been doing. We’ve made accommodations in the past for our student-athletes to participate.”

Cain recalled a football player who had to use a different type of helmet that was sized so he could wear his hearing aids.

“As far as the new law is concerned, nothing would be different,” Cain said. “That’s where our heart would be anyway.”

Like the AISA, the AHSAA requires potential athletes to pass a physical examination.

“We would want to make certain that a student-athlete is not in harm’s way in a sport that’s beyond their capability to play,” Cain said. “It’s an AHSAA rule that you have to have an up-to-date physical on file for every student-athlete to participate in practice or in competition. I feel like what we’re doing now complies with everything that I’ve read concerning the new ruling. I think the way we’re going to approach it is the way the directive itself states. We’ll approach it on a case-by-case basis to make sure that the student-athlete’s well-being is guarded, but also to make sure we do not limit participation because of a physical condition.”

Rodney Green, director of athletics and boys basketball coach at Holy Spirit, said he knew of four students with disabilities.

“I’ve coached players that had learning disabilities before, but not physical disabilities,” Green said. “If we have kids that are able to participate in anything we offer we want to make accommodations for them to do that, but we can’t put them on the field unless they’re able to pass a physical in any sport that’s offered.”

During the 2010 football season, Simon Bowman, who is legally blind, was a senior nose guard and played football at Tuscaloosa Christian.

Bowman carried the ball a few times and scored on a 5-yard run against Heritage Academy.

“He was probably the

hardest-working lineman I had that year,” said Hunter Christian, Tuscaloosa Christian’s head football coach and assistant principal. “He worked so hard he gave the other team fits. He was not completely blind, but he was legally blind. His ability to see the ball was an issue. That’s why we played him at nose guard. He could see the snap of the ball.”

Christian said his biggest worry for Bowman was that he would get nailed by a blocker he didn’t see.

“My biggest concern was safety,” Christian said. “I couldn’t control the other team like I could mine in practice. They didn’t know his situation.

“The other players on our team loved it. Simon was always working hard, and that made it even better. He recognized that he was making them better. He was a teammate. He was a comrade there. The disability was never really an issue. Once he proved himself, it was like, ‘I’m going to work as hard as you guys,’ and they accepted him.”

Bowman said he was able to play because he accepted his limitations and relied on his teammates when he needed help.

“Playing football was something I loved and enjoyed,” Bowman said. “I played for about eight years. Just having the experience of playing a sport with the eye condition that I have and just getting to enjoy it, it was a real thrill. It was quite exciting.”

Because of his vision, Bowman said that it became more difficult to play positions like fullback and middle linebacker.

“I pretty much had to work around my limitations,” he said. “I had to know what I could or could not do on the field. I had to find a position that I could contribute to and be successful at. I couldn’t look in the backfield and watch the play. I had to get on the line and be face-to-face with a play and be able to get back there and disrupt the play. I knew if I could get in the backfield and disrupt the play, it would help out a lot just by doing that.”

Bowman said the touchdown run was “pretty exciting.”

“I was glad that I had a chance to do something like that in a game,” he said. “It wasn’t my first time running it, but it was my first time to score. My teammates were willing to help me out there. They helped me succeed in it.”

Bowman is taking classes at Shelton State Community College. He said he is studying biology and wants to go into veterinary medicine.

“Knowing my condition and knowing my limitations as far as what I could and couldn’t do, it helped me out a lot to communicate to the players and coaches. I also had the encouragement of my parents, so I was able to continue on doing what I love to do, which was playing football.”

Reach Andrew Carroll at andrew.carroll@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0223.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | The U.S. Education Department's directive to enhance sports participation for people with disabilities might not have a direct effect on local private schools, which receive no federal funding, but school officials said they are generally open to idea of presenting opportunities.</p><p>“Right now, it's so new,” said Robert Johnson, Tuscaloosa Academy's director of athletics and head football coach. “Since we're a private school, we don't know if there will be some kind of implication for us that's completely different from what we have in place now. If it becomes an issue, we'll have to talk with our board of directors. I'm thinking that Tuscaloosa Academy wouldn't really be under these guidelines, but the things that affect the public schools are certainly issues that we discuss as we move forward in the way that best serves our students. We try to stay on top of the world of education, and the board of directors sets those policies.”</p><p>Johnson said the school already has a “no-cut” policy to encourage participation in athletics. Coaches don't dismiss potential players who can make the grades, meet the physical requirements, attend practices and follow the team rules.</p><p>“We want our students to come be on a team,” Johnson said. “As far as actual playing time, we're going to put our best players out there, but we encourage all of our students to participate and play anything they want to play.”</p><p>Johnson said the no-cut policy is in effect “as long as people are willing to do what the coaches ask them to do.”</p><p>Tuscaloosa Academy sports are sanctioned by the Alabama Independent School Association.</p><p>“The league still has rules,” Johnson said. “You still have to have a physical and turn in all your paperwork like anybody else to be on one of our teams. The league we play in, we have to go by their guidelines, obviously, because of safety issues.”</p><p>American Christian Academy, a member of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, has 22 different sports for boys and girls with 38 teams.</p><p>Rob Cain, ACA's director of athletics, estimated that 90 to 95 percent of the students in grades seven through 12 participate in some kind of sport or activity, including cheerleading and dance team.</p><p>“I can certainly see the merit of the law,” Cain said. “As far as the ACA vantage point, nothing would change from what we've been doing. We've made accommodations in the past for our student-athletes to participate.”</p><p>Cain recalled a football player who had to use a different type of helmet that was sized so he could wear his hearing aids.</p><p>“As far as the new law is concerned, nothing would be different,” Cain said. “That's where our heart would be anyway.”</p><p>Like the AISA, the AHSAA requires potential athletes to pass a physical examination.</p><p>“We would want to make certain that a student-athlete is not in harm's way in a sport that's beyond their capability to play,” Cain said. “It's an AHSAA rule that you have to have an up-to-date physical on file for every student-athlete to participate in practice or in competition. I feel like what we're doing now complies with everything that I've read concerning the new ruling. I think the way we're going to approach it is the way the directive itself states. We'll approach it on a case-by-case basis to make sure that the student-athlete's well-being is guarded, but also to make sure we do not limit participation because of a physical condition.”</p><p>Rodney Green, director of athletics and boys basketball coach at Holy Spirit, said he knew of four students with disabilities. </p><p>“I've coached players that had learning disabilities before, but not physical disabilities,” Green said. “If we have kids that are able to participate in anything we offer we want to make accommodations for them to do that, but we can't put them on the field unless they're able to pass a physical in any sport that's offered.”</p><p>During the 2010 football season, Simon Bowman, who is legally blind, was a senior nose guard and played football at Tuscaloosa Christian.</p><p>Bowman carried the ball a few times and scored on a 5-yard run against Heritage Academy.</p><p>“He was probably the </p><p>hardest-working lineman I had that year,” said Hunter Christian, Tuscaloosa Christian's head football coach and assistant principal. “He worked so hard he gave the other team fits. He was not completely blind, but he was legally blind. His ability to see the ball was an issue. That's why we played him at nose guard. He could see the snap of the ball.”</p><p>Christian said his biggest worry for Bowman was that he would get nailed by a blocker he didn't see.</p><p>“My biggest concern was safety,” Christian said. “I couldn't control the other team like I could mine in practice. They didn't know his situation.</p><p>“The other players on our team loved it. Simon was always working hard, and that made it even better. He recognized that he was making them better. He was a teammate. He was a comrade there. The disability was never really an issue. Once he proved himself, it was like, 'I'm going to work as hard as you guys,' and they accepted him.”</p><p>Bowman said he was able to play because he accepted his limitations and relied on his teammates when he needed help.</p><p>“Playing football was something I loved and enjoyed,” Bowman said. “I played for about eight years. Just having the experience of playing a sport with the eye condition that I have and just getting to enjoy it, it was a real thrill. It was quite exciting.”</p><p>Because of his vision, Bowman said that it became more difficult to play positions like fullback and middle linebacker.</p><p>“I pretty much had to work around my limitations,” he said. “I had to know what I could or could not do on the field. I had to find a position that I could contribute to and be successful at. I couldn't look in the backfield and watch the play. I had to get on the line and be face-to-face with a play and be able to get back there and disrupt the play. I knew if I could get in the backfield and disrupt the play, it would help out a lot just by doing that.”</p><p>Bowman said the touchdown run was “pretty exciting.”</p><p>“I was glad that I had a chance to do something like that in a game,” he said. “It wasn't my first time running it, but it was my first time to score. My teammates were willing to help me out there. They helped me succeed in it.”</p><p>Bowman is taking classes at Shelton State Community College. He said he is studying biology and wants to go into veterinary medicine.</p><p>“Knowing my condition and knowing my limitations as far as what I could and couldn't do, it helped me out a lot to communicate to the players and coaches. I also had the encouragement of my parents, so I was able to continue on doing what I love to do, which was playing football.”</p><p>Reach Andrew Carroll at andrew.carroll@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0223.</p>